


5 Times Morgan Upped the Ante + 1 Time Tony Beat Her To It

by rebelmeg



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fix-It, Iron Dad and his Iron Daughter, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Kid Fic, Only happy endings sold here, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Tony Stark, Stark Family, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, dad tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:45:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg
Summary: All the ways and measurements that Tony Stark loves his daughter over the years, and how she one-ups him every time.  Or, how "I love you 3000" came to be.





	5 Times Morgan Upped the Ante + 1 Time Tony Beat Her To It

**Author's Note:**

> *Tosses another fix-it on the pile* This is all I do now. #tonystarklives

_Prequel_

The first thing Tony saw when he woke up from the sedation Bruce had given him after his collapse, was Pepper’s face.

She was in a chair next to his bed, slumped over and looking exhausted and strained as she stared at nothing, her thumb idly stroking back and forth over his hand.

“I want to make a baby with you.”

She sat up fast, her eyes shooting to his as she gasped. “You’re awake. Are you okay?”

He ignored the question, single-minded and determined. “I’m serious. And I want to do it now, I don’t want to wait.”

“Tony, you’re… you’re in a hospital bed.”

He huffed impatiently. “Not _now_ now, I don’t have the strength, muscle tone, or libido to do anything at all right now. Just… _now_ meaning soon. Not later. We've put off too much until later. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Pepper’s gaze was compassionate and solemn as she stroked her warm fingertips over his face. “I know.”

“This is my second chance. Well, this is probably my twelfth or thirteenth chance, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t want any more chances. I’m… I’m done. No reactor. No nanotech. No Iron Man. I’m done.” Tony looked at the love of his life with an intensity he hoped she could understand, urgency buzzing under his skin.

“I know,” Pepper whispered again, putting her hand over the scars on his emaciated chest. “I know.”

“Please, Pepper. I just want… I just want you. You, and whoever else comes along. I’ve wasted too much time. I’ve lost so much—” His voice broke, and he had to look down to collect himself, but he still saw the way her heart broke on her face. “Please. Please don’t say no.”

Her eyes were slightly red, and her eyes were glimmering with unshed tears. “You have to get better first.”

Tony started nodding immediately, ready and willing to agree to any and all terms that let this happen.

“And I don’t just mean ‘no longer collapsing’, I mean actually healthy. I mean it, Tony.”

He just kept nodding, totally willing to go with anything she said. “Okay.” 

She looked slightly suspicious, as if she’d expected him to put up at least a token fight. “It might take months.”

“I know.”

“And even after… there’s no way to know if we’ll be able to…”

“I know.” He avoided thinking about that just yet. “But we don’t know for sure. We’ll cross that bridge later, yeah? For now, just…” He had to look away for a moment, compose himself, blink away the stinging in his eyes before he could look back at Pepper, knowing he was begging. “Tell me yes. Tell me yes. Please.”

She pressed her lips together, her gaze flickering between his eyes, taking in his expression. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” Relief flooded through him, and he felt his shoulders slump as the tension bled out of them.

“When you’re better… yeah.”

Shuddering with the force of his relieved sigh, Tony reached for her, and Pepper met him halfway, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over to curl against his side, arms wrapped around him.

“I’m so sorry it took this to make me see it.”

She shook her head, reaching up to press her fingers to his mouth. “Don’t. The past is the past. We can’t go back. We’re here now, both of us, together. That’s all that matters.”

* * *

_1_

When Pepper blinked her eyes open, she registered the various lingering aches and pains in her body left over from labor and delivery a few days ago, stretched carefully, then reached out to Tony’s side of the bed.

It was empty, but still faintly warm, and she checked the time as she gingerly sat up.

Just after two in the morning.

There was only one place he was likely to be, so Pepper slid out of bed and crept quietly out of their bedroom, seeing the light on in the nursery just across the hall. And sure enough, she could hear the murmur of his voice before she saw him.

“You know what, baby girl? I love you a hundred. Percent. I think. Maybe just a hundred. That works. That’s a good number.”

Pepper smiled softly at Tony’s sleep-deprived slurring, peeking around the edge of the doorway to see his foot keeping the rocking chair swaying back and forth. His arms were cradling their daughter, though his head was resting against the back of the chair and his eyes were closed.

She had to bite back a chuckle when she saw Morgan’s dark eyes were wide open, clearly not even close to sleep.

With a sigh, Tony blinked and refocused on the baby, the smile on his face something truly beautiful to behold. “So what do you think, sunshine? Does a hundred work for you? Mathematically speaking, that’s a good, solid number for a percentage. Not too over the top.” He tucked his finger under Morgan’s tiny fist, that smile growing when she immediately gripped it. Except for her pointer finger that stood straight up.

Tony’s husky, tired laugh made Pepper want to melt, even more so as he lifted their daughter up further on his chest and pressed the softest of kisses to the downy-soft fuzz of hair on the crown of her head.

“Okay. A hundred and one. You drive a hard bargain. But I can do that.”

Resettling the newborn in the crook of his arm, Tony closed his eyes again and rested his head against the padded back of the chair. But his foot kept the chair rocking, and his arms didn’t loosen their protective hold.

He’d stay awake all night if he had to, for his little girl.

Pepper slid into the room and leaned down to kiss her husband’s forehead, smiling at the way his long eyelashes fluttered and he smiled up at her.

“Hey. Did I wake you?”

“Nope. How long has she been up?”

Tony shifted Morgan to hold with one arm and rubbed his other hand over his face, looking incredibly at peace for a man with bloodshot eyes that had enormous bags under them. “FRIDAY?”

“About an hour, boss.”

Tony nodded, “Sounds about right.” He ran his hand up Pepper’s arm in a gentle caress. “Go ahead and go back to sleep. I’ve got this.”

Pepper kissed his forehead again, then scooped Morgan into her arms just as the baby started wiggling and fussing. “I know you do. But it’s my turn. I need to feed her anyway.”

Tony patted his lap, trying to give her a come-hither look that was more amusing than sexy given how tired he was. “Nudity, I’m a fan of that.”

Giggling, Pepper shook her head, knowing nursing would be impossible in that position. “Go to bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Sighing and getting to his feet somewhat stiffly, Tony cupped one hand under Morgan’s head and the other around the back of Pepper’s neck, giving them both a kiss. “Let me know if she stays up. I’ll stay with her.”

“I know.” He’d do anything for her. Already had.

Settling in the rocking chair, Pepper watched her husband shuffle slowly out of the nursery, listening to make sure he went into their bedroom and closed the door before she got to work nursing Morgan.

“Asleep the moment his head hit the pillow,” FRIDAY murmured quietly a minute later as Pepper got the baby positioned, tucking a pillow under her arm.

“Thanks, FRIDAY.”

* * *

_2_

Tony was lying flat on his belly on the living room floor, adjacent to the Christmas tree in the corner that was aglow with twinkle lights. Snow was falling outside the window, and he was face to face with nine-month-old Morgan, who was sitting in front of him and slapping her little hands into the palms he was holding up for her, elbows braced on the floor. She was teething again, her little gums to the side of her existing four teeth swollen, which meant that not only did she want more attention than usual, but she was drooling quite a bit too. It didn’t seem to faze her daddy in the slightest.

“You know, I never would have guessed I’d love someone with drool running down their chin as much as I love you.”

Morgan babbled and squealed, slapping her hands down on his like it was the best game in the world.

“Oh, you love me more? That’s not possible, I love you the m—”

An ear-splitting shriek from that same drooly mouth cut him off, and the hand-slapping escalated in speed and enthusiasm.

“That’s cheating, you can’t do that, I love you mo—”

“Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba,” Morgan’s whole body was rocking and wiggling in her excitement, her big brown eyes wide with concentration as she dug her tiny little fingernails into Tony’s calloused palms and then resumed slapping them up and down.

“Are you gonna let me finish my sentences? Just because you’ve mastered _ba_ , _ma_ , _ya_ , _da_ , and _ah_ doesn’t mean you can just interrupt. That’s rude, we can’t have you being rude.”

“BA BA BA ba ba ba ba bababa.”

“Now, see, this is why we can’t ever have a normal conversation, it’s gotta be all you you you all the time.”

Another loud squeal, and then the baby lurched forward and latched onto one of Tony’s fingers with her mouth, holding on with both hands and still trying to babble around it.

Tony curled his finger so she didn’t choke on it, letting her nom on his knuckle. “You bite me again, and we’re gonna have some serious words, young lady. Santa won’t bring you that new teething ring Daddy asked him for.”

Muffled jabbering came back at him, and then the sharp pinch of teeth on his skin.

“Ow, hey! You’re using your cuteness against me, stop that. Ow! Morgan Hope Stark!”

Giggling and shrieking, Morgan waved her hands and kicked her feet in delight as Tony picked her up and rolled over onto his back, holding her up in the air with her face over his.

“You’re a drooly, toothy menace, what are we gonna do with you?”

Morgan didn’t have an immediate response to that, but she did drip a nice, big string of drool right in her daddy’s face, and probably considered that satisfactory.

* * *

_3_

“You know,” Rhodey approached the subject carefully as he walked around the garage Tony had converted into a workshop, patting the bots absentmindedly as he passed them. 

Tony knew what he was going to say before he said it, and had to hold himself back from high-fiving Dum-E when Rhodey said, oh so predictably, “We could use your help.”

Tony nodded but didn’t look up from the boat engine part he was working on, a wry smile on his face. “I’m sure you could.”

“Any chance you’d be willing to do even some part-time work? We really need you, Tones.”

Tony couldn’t blame him, not really. Rhodey was still an Avenger, still considered it his responsibility to fix what problems he could with the rest of the team. He obviously wanted to give the world the best shot at continuing to recover. It was a good thing. The world needed it.

They’d just have to learn to do it without Iron Man.

Tony looked back at his best friend’s face, seeing everything Rhodey wasn’t saying. The sadness, the ever-fading hope, the despair, mostly the survivor’s guilt. Tony knew that last one dead to rights, he struggled with it every damn day of his life.

But that didn’t mean he was going to risk everything he had trying to assuage that guilt.

After all, guilt was an old, dear friend at this point.

“Sorry, Rhodey. It’s a no.”

“You sure?” Rhodey pressed. “Been a long time since all of us have been together, you know. Maybe it would be nice to catch up.”

Tony shook his head a little, his faint smile sad. “You’re the only one other than Nebula who talks to me at all, Rhodey. And it’s not like I’m off the grid or in hiding. Nobody is interested in catching up with me, or they would have already tried.”

Rhodey let out a long, slow breath, but didn’t disagree with him. He also didn’t pursue the topic, having said his piece and heard Tony’s reply.

It was why they were still friends after all these years, after all their major fights and minor disagreements. They understood each other.

Before either of them could speak again, the garage door creaked a little as it opened. Pepper stepped through the doorway, late afternoon sunlight glinting off her strawberry blonde hair, a chubby little hand tucked in hers.

Morgan’s whole face lit up when she saw Tony, reaching out her free arm and doing a grabby hand. “Daddy! Daddy!”

As if that didn’t make him feel every kind of gooey inside?

Dum-E and U had perked up the moment they noticed the toddler, their metal arms lifting as they chirped at her, the special happy sounds that were only for her. The bots adored Morgan nearly as much as Tony and Pepper did, and doted on her when she was in the garage.

Tony held out his arms, chuckling as Morgan ran right to him as fast as her little legs could carry her, and giggled as she was swept up against his chest. 

“Hey, little miss. You woke up early again. Are we reaching the end of the beloved afternoon nap?”

Pepper leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his head. “I think we are. She took a little while to settle down as well. Hey, Rhodey.”

“Hi Pepper.”

“You want to stay for dinner? I can set an extra place.”

Rhodey hesitated, looking unsure, and Tony couldn’t have that. No matter where they were in their lives, they’d always been friends. No reason to let that stop now.

“He’s staying.” Tony grunted slightly when he stood up, Morgan still in his arms. “In fact, make him help cook. He’s good at that kind of thing.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, pretending to be exasperated, but made no fuss about following Pepper back to the house, chatting amiably along the way. 

Tony lingered in the garage for a few more minutes, putting away some of the tools that were definitely a child hazard, should Morgan manage to get in by herself. FRIDAY, who loved the mini Stark just as much as everyone else, projected a slowly moving, glittering depiction of the earth from space, the moon glowing off to one side, stars in the cosmos twinkling in the background.

Morgan waved her hand through the familiar projection, pinprick lights dancing on her skin and through the dark locks of hair that were just starting to reach her little shoulders. While Tony locked up his box of small, sharp precision tools with his free hand, she manipulated the hologram this way and that, zooming in and out and moving it around so that the earth moved behind them and a field of stars filled their vision.

“Tink-oh, tink-oh, stars,” She sang tunelessly and without rhythm, and Tony couldn’t help but smile as the projection reoriented itself, the earth back in the center of the room.

“You know what, I love you all the way to there and back.” Tony pointed to the glowing, silvery bright moon, circling slowly around the earth.

Morgan twisted around in his arms, then pointed at a bright, reddish star over his shoulder. “Dat.”

“Mars? You love me all the way to Mars?” Tony chuckled and kissed her cheek, loving the way she giggled at the tickle of his facial hair. “That’s pretty far, love bug. You’re tenacious.” He didn’t care a bit that she had no concept of distance, planets, space, or that love was in fact limitless. He’d let her win this game anytime.

“Let’s go find Mommy and Uncle Rhodey, huh? Make sure they don’t mess up my nice clean kitchen. Bye bots, see you tomorrow. Give ‘em a wave, honey, they like that.”

Morgan waved and grinned at the bots, who were bobbing their arms up and down enthusiastically. “Bye bots.”

“Good job.” Tony closed the garage door behind them, listening for the thunk of the lock engaging, then lifted Morgan up over his shoulder, holding onto her legs while she dangled halfway down his back and shrieked with laughter. 

“Daddy, up!”

“You sure? This is pretty fun!”

“Up!”

With an exaggerated _oof_ , he swung the toddler back over his shoulder and into his arms, bouncing her with every step, the two of them giggling as they walked to the house in the early spring sunset light.

* * *

_4_

“There is no way there are fish in that lake.” Tony announced through the screen door as he dumped his fishing gear on the porch and sat down to take off the thigh-high rubber waders. “We’ve got the only fish-less lake in North America.”

Pepper’s voice from inside held a hint of teasing that never got old. “Well, either that or you’re just not good at fishing.”

“Miss Potts, you shut your mouth, how dare you.”

Pepper’s giggle was maybe Tony’s favorite thing. “That’s Mrs. Stark, thank you very much.”

The screen door came flying open, and an almost three-year-old Morgan bolted out, a ragged stuffed bunny in one hand, wearing a pair of rain boots that were a size too big and clomped loudly on the porch. “Daddy! Row boat!”

Tony slapped his hands down on his thighs in faux exasperation. “I just got back from the row boat!”

“Daddy pwease row boat?” 

Okay, the toddler-speak was too cute, it was official. Morgan still couldn’t really pronounce her R’s, so it sounded more like “whoa boat,” and how was a guy supposed to say no to that?

“You’ve even got your boat shoes on, huh?”

Morgan beamed and kicked one foot out, the pink polka dot boot nearly sliding off as she did so. “Yeah, mommy help me!”

Sitting there in his stocking feet, Tony experienced a kind of moment that he’d been having a lot over the past few years. A moment that just… had the clarity of a photograph, a moment frozen in time that he knew he’d always remember.

Reaching forward, he brushed the tangled strands of brown hair out of her face. A tiny rubber elastic was valiantly trying to hold onto the end of a short braid, but Morgan just had the kind of hair that did whatever it wanted. Tony sort of loved it.

He tugged on the stuffed animal’s ear. “Bunny gonna come too?”

“Bunny can’t get wet.” Morgan informed him matter-of-factly.

“That’s right. Takes him too long to dry out. Does he wanna stay here and wait for you?”

“Yes.”

Tony deposited the stuffed bunny on the deck chair next to him, then got to his feet and swept Morgan up into his arms. “We got time for a boat ride before lunch, Mommy?”

“A short one, yeah.” Pepper came to the door, a pair of Tony’s shoes in her hand. She passed them out with a kiss. “Try not to get wet.”

Getting the boat back out only took a minute, and Tony rowed them out as far as it took them to sing “Row Row Row Your Boat” twice. He set the oars then tugged Morgan over to hug against his chest, back to front, just enjoying the view ahead and the rocking sensation of the boat. A bright yellow leaf, one of the first that had started to change as autumn progressed, landed on the toe of Morgan’s boot and she picked it up, twirling it back and forth between her little fingers.

“Daddy, I find a leaf!”

“You sure did. I like it, that’s an excellent yellow leaf.”

“It lellow like my ducky.”

Tony rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment, savoring the vital warmth and movement of her in his arms as she waved the leaf back and forth. “I love you dozens, punkin.”

“I love you a gwoss.”

A laugh startled out of him. “A gross? You remember how much a gross is?” 

Along with teaching her how to sing the alphabet, how to identify colors, and what sounds the animals made, Tony and Pepper had also started teaching Morgan about numbers. To their surprise (and Tony’s delight), Morgan had true knack for numbers and counting, and Tony had found himself inventing silly songs and nonsense rhymes to help her learn more (he hadn’t memorized the entire Periodic Table of Elements song for nothing.) He’d composed a ridiculous ditty the other day about how much a “gross” and a “firkin” were and something about nautical miles vs. land miles, but heck if he could remember it right now.

Morgan leaned over the edge of the boat, stretching in his careful hold and reaching for the surface of the water. “One four four.”

“That’s right, twelve dozen is 144. You’re the smartest three-year-old in the world, I think. Definitely smarter than anyone else I know. Are you a genius like daddy?”

Her reply was utterly casual. “Um, yep.” She had the leaf and both hands in the water now, waving them back and forth and wiggling her fingers. “Daddy, we swim?”

“Not right now, we’ve gotta go in and have lunch with mommy. It’s a special day when mommy cooks. You ready to go back?”

“Five mo’ minutes.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with that. Five more minutes.”

* * *

_5_

“Here we go,” Tony plucked a dark purple blossom off one of the plants he and Morgan had just finished watering out in front of the house, and tucked it behind her ear. “Are you my flower child?”

Morgan reached for her own flower, a pink one, tugging at it until it gave. “Um, yes.” She held the flower up to her daddy. “For you ear too.”

A smile curling across his face, Tony lowered his head so her little fingers, smudgy with dirt, could try to stick the flower behind his ear. “You need a hand with that?”

“I do it,” Morgan insisted, then watched the blossom fall a few seconds later. “I meed help.”

Tucking the flower behind his ear, Tony scooped Morgan into his arms and handed her the little basket they’d been collecting select flowers in. “Should we take these flowers inside for Mommy?”

“Mommy love da flowers.”

“Mommy sure does, especially when you pick them for her. If I might say, the tomato blossoms are an exceptional touch. Very avant garde, not everybody is brave enough to do that kind of thing.”

Morgan swung the basket as they walked, one or two flowers slipping out, but she didn’t seem to mind. “You flower pwetty, Daddy.”

Tony turned his head so she could see the flower behind his ear and batted his eyelashes. “Why, thank you. Might I say I like yours too.”

“My flower pwetty too.”

“Sure is, just like you.” He kissed her round, soft cheek as he carried her up the steps onto the porch. “Love you a bunch, little miss.”

“I love you a bushel.” Her little mouth, still learning words, pronounced it like “bush-oh,” and Tony chuckled as he let them both inside.

“You never let me have the last word, do you? How about this,” He sat her down on the kitchen counter, and sang as he got out a little vase for the flowers they’d picked. “ _I love you, a bushel and a peck. A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck._ ” 

He kissed her cheek again, grinning as she bounced in place. “ _A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap, a barrel and a heap and I’m talking in my sleep about you._ ”

Morgan giggled and swayed to the music, poking flower stems into the neck of the vase. “Again!”

“Yep, alright, soon as we get these on Mommy’s desk, I’ll sing it again. Wanna dance with Daddy?”

“I be on you feet?”

“You betcha. And I’ll make sure we twirl, you like to twirl.”

“I be a pwincess!”

“Yep, you’re Daddy’s princess. Don’t let anybody ever tell you otherwise.”

* * *

"Love you tons."

"I love you 3000."

* * *

_+1_

Tony knew by looking at their faces that it was… it was bad. Pretty bad. Not that he didn’t know it, his body kept swinging wildly between indescribable pain and floaty numbness, neither of which were good things.

But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

He was alive.

He couldn’t seem to make words work, but it was okay. As long as his eyes were open and he was focusing on Pepper, he’d be fine. "Pep." He loved her so much...

“We’ll be okay,” She was saying, a smile on her face that was trying to be loving and strong, but he could read the crushing sadness on her face. “You can rest now.”

Tony smiled as much as he could, appreciating how selfless and strong and _Pepper_ she was being. He knew she meant it. He knew she’d let him go if she had to. She’d let him rest.

But like _hell_ was he going to.

He’d figured out time travel in _one night_. Like he wasn’t going to take any and all precautions to ensure that he lived through this ordeal? The second he’d realized what the gauntlet would require, the kind of radiation it would give off, he’d been working on a way to protect against it. Just in case.

He had a whole hell of a lot to live for, half of it kneeling in front of him with tears in her eyes, the other half with Uncle Happy back home.

He could tell when the nanotech arc finally gave out, the power depleted, but it was fine. It had done what it needed to do, and he was still breathing.

Bruce was there now, coming into Tony’s line of sight, big and green and still half-crispy, anguish on his face. “Tony… no.”

Tony flicked his eyes up, and he could tell Pepper was shocked that he was still alive. Yeah, he’d probably looked a little comatose there for a sec, lost in his own head. He’d apologize later.

Although, given the way she’d just narrowed her eyes, searching his face so closely, maybe he wouldn’t have to.

“What did you do,” She whispered, her hands reaching out shakily to cup his face. “There’s no way you should be…”

"Mr. Stark? Is... is he okay?" Peter was sniffling, his eyes red, but there was such a fragile hope on his face.

“I… I don’t understand.” Bruce had a gadget in his hands, a medical scanner, and his eyes were wide as they looked between Tony’s prone form and the readings on the little screen. “This is saying that the radiation levels are dropping. Like, fast, faster than anything that makes sense.”

Tony smiled. He was genius, he was a damned _genius_ and he honestly did not get enough credit for it, ever. The shield tech had worked, the lead embedded in the nanotech armor creating a layer between his body and the radiation. It had sucked the life out of the reactor, as it was meant to, but he was still alive.

“Tony?”

He could hear the hope in Pepper's voice now, peeking through the confusion, and he forced himself to take a slightly deeper breath, trying to get words out.

“Genius.”

“What?” Pepper leaned closer.

Tony tried again, his lips stretching in a smile as he repeated it, just a little louder. “Genius.”

* * *

It was easy as breathing (well, theoretically, that was kind of a historically bad example for him, never mind) to spot his Morgan in the crowd waiting when the quinjet landed on the helicopter pad on the roof of the hospital. And not just because she was the only one there that was three feet tall.

That kid, his precious, precious daughter that he loved with every piece of his continually damaged heart, was decked out, head to toe, in Iron Man armor.

That little stinker had found the armor he’d been making for her, he knew he should have hid it better. Little garage thief that she was.

She broke away from Happy as soon as she saw her parents disembark the jet, flipping up her faceplate to see better, but hesitated when she saw the state Tony was in. It was probably scary, to see him like this, laid out on a gurney and half-covered in bandages.

He held out his good hand, smiling at her as he called out, “Hey, Iron Baby. You got into the garage again.”

Pepper followed his gaze, and in the next moment she was across the roof and scooping Morgan into her arms, taking off her little helmet and holding her tight.

Morgan kept looking at Tony, and he could just make out what she was saying.

“Is Daddy hurt?” Her big brown eyes, so like his, were wide and scared in her face, but Pepper just pressed a kiss to her temple and brought her closer.

“He’s got some big owies from fighting the bad guy, but he’s gonna be okay. He made sure he’d be okay for you.”

Tony really wanted to just hold onto Morgan with both arms and not let go for… ever, really, but he was sort of immobile on the one side, with some tubes and wires running out from under the bandages, so he’d better not. He settled for reached up and cupping her face in his hand when Pepper sat by his hip on the edge of the gurney.

“You know what, sunshine?” Tony smoothed back that dark hair that was always tangled, no matter what they did. “I’ve got a secret to tell you.”

“A secret?” Morgan asked, a tiny line appearing between her eyebrows as they scrunched down adorably. “What secret?”

Exerting probably an unwise amount of effort that hurt like a _bitch_ , Tony leaned up on the gurney just enough to press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you a gazillion.”

She smiled in that way she had, like she found him funny and a lot to handle all at the same time, an expression that was a dead ringer for her mother. 

“I love you two gazillion.” Her sweet voice tripped over the big word a little bit, mispronouncing the L’s, and it was the best thing Tony had ever heard.

With a sigh and a wet chuckle, Pepper pressed a kiss to first Morgan’s forehead, then Tony’s, her hand gentle on his uninjured cheek. “Three gazillion.”

Tony’s chest ached for a reason that was eternities better than any other reasons his chest had ever ached, his heart throbbing with an absolutely overwhelming amount of love.

He was alive. He’d survived. And come out on the other side with both of his girls. They were okay. He was going to be fine. And they’d done it.

“Mr. Stark, let’s get you inside.” One of the medical personnel that had met them on the roof came over, now that they’d had their moment of privacy.

“Yeah, alright.”

“Daddy?” Morgan’s voice was tight and worried, wobbling a little, and her hand reached out for his.

“Yeah, starshine?”

“Do your owies hurt?” She looked on the verge of tears.

Tony smiled at her gently, ignoring the doctors and nurses that were starting to swarm around them. “They do, but it’s okay. The doctors are gonna fix them up and give me the good medicine that makes pink elephants come out of the wallpaper, and I'm gonna be fine.”

Pepper snorted, and even though it didn’t particularly feel good, Tony’s mouth stretched wide in a smile as he laughed, coaxing that sweet smile out on Morgan's face one more time.

Yeah. Things were gonna be just fine.


End file.
